Prairie Creek Reservoir is of great importance to the residents of Delaware County and the surrounding area. However, the Reservoir has severe bank erosion and the formation of gullies due to unmanaged runoff and adjacent land uses, which creates a direct route for sediment and other pollutants to enter the reservoir.

FLR developed a Reservoir-wide bank restoration prioritization plan with funding from the IDEM Section 319 program and the Ball Brothers Foundation. As a pilot project, a rapidly eroding bank was repaired using coir logs and vegetative practices.

The native vegetation, erosion fabric, coir logs, and live stakes were specifically implemented to showcase green infrastructure and bioengineering solutions. A potential pollutant reduction analysis was performed using Region V modeling.

Assuming 90% efficiency, project impacts were estimated to be a reduction of 18.9 ton/year Sediment; 21.7 lbs/year Phosphorus; and 43.5 lbs/year Nitrogen. These estimates do not include potential additional reduction by the native vegetation.